My Landscape Quilts

Living in the country, I am often inspired by the beautiful countryside. My landscape quilts attempt to capture the beauty of the natural world around us.

Landscape Quilts
1. Waterloo County
2. Abandoned
3. Irish Seascape
4. Let It Snow
5. Threatening Skies
6. Evergreens
7. Hills
8. Cliffs
9. Fenceposts
10. Beach

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Waterloo County
by Renske Helmuth
(20” x 26")
Hand appliquéd, hand embroidered and machine quilted.

Over the years, I have coordinated quilts for the Mennonite Relief Sale. The latest quilt, "A Bird's Eye View: Interpreting the Aerial Photography of Carl Hiebert", was made in 2005 by members of the Waterloo County Quilters Guild and the Listowel Mennonite Church.

I talked to Carl Hiebert and got his permission to use the pictures from his books. After I had the initial idea, I wanted to try it myself first, to know how difficult a project like that would be. I looked through Carl's books to find the photograph that would be the most challenging to interpret in fabric. This wall hanging is the result.

The hardest part was making the pattern. In a painting or drawing there are limitless possibilities; but when you are working with fabric, the pieces have to be big enough to appliqué! Once the master pattern was constructed, I started the hand appliqué, working from top to bottom. The final result was machine quilted.

After making this piece, I was convinced that it was possible to come up with a quilt based on Carl's photography and that's how "A Bird's Eye View" came about. Here's a detail shot from this quilt:

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Abandoned
by Renske Helmuth
(22.5 "x 20")
Hand appliqué and machine embroidery/quilting

This quilt portrays what is happening all over the country: where there were once thriving farms, there are now weeds and abandoned buildings. The few remaining farms are getting bigger and bigger. In this prairie scene the buildings are gone, except for some grain bins: the last sign that once a family tried to make a living here.

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Irish Seascape
by Renske Helmuth
(24"x18")
Hand appliqué and a minimal amount of machine quilting

A member of my quilt guild showed me a picture of a painting that her mother got as a gift in Ireland. She wanted to make a small quilt out of it, but did not know how to go about it. I took her picture with a promise to give it a try. The hardest part was making the pattern. With a painting you have limitless possibilities with your brush strokes, but working with fabric you have to make the pieces big enough so it is workable.

Once the pattern was made and some more fabric had been bought it was time to go at it. The actual appliqué did go fast. I would like to mount this landscape at some point, but for now I have put a border around it. It has been machine quilted, just enough to hold the layers together.

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Let It Snow
by Renske Helmuth
(center is 7-3/4"x4-3/4")
Hand appliqué and machine embroidery.

The inspiration for this landscape came from an old postcard I received years ago.

It took a while to find the right blue fabrics, but it was a fun piece to make -- even the countless French knots for snow!

 

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Threatening skies
by Renske Helmuth
(center is 7.5"x6")
Hand appliqué and machine embroidery.

I made this small piece for a Christmas gift. After the appliqué and embroidery I took it in and had it mounted behind glass. Framing shows one of these small pieces of really well: the drawback is that they are hard to transport to workshops and trunk shows!

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Evergreens
by Renske Helmuth
(center is 9"x7")
Hand appliqué and machine embroidery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Hills
by Renske Helmuth 2002
(4"x6")

 

 

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Cliffs
Renske Helmuth
2001
(3.5"x6.5")

I like to frame miniature landscapes and also make scenic greeting cards.

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Fenceposts
Renske Helmuth
2004
(13"x 11")
Hand appliqué

 

 

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Beach
Renske Helmuth
2003
(7"x5")
Hand appliqué

 

 

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Contact

Contact Renske Helmuth

6833 Wellington Road 9
R.R.3 Moorefield ON
Canada N0G 2K0

Tel: 519/343-5312

Email me at helmuth@golden.net

Teaching and lecture fee schedule available upon request.

More postcards

Yesterday was guild meeting and it was good to see so many friends again. I had missed the last meeting, because of illness. As usual there was a big show-and-tell and the program was very interesting. This time I had to stay for both the afternoon and the evening, because it was time to collect all the postcards for our next Relief Sale Quilt. This will be the 5th quilt I coordinate for the Mennonite Relief Sale in New Hamburg with the help of members of the Waterloo County Quilters Guild and the Listowel Mennonite Church.

The first step this time was the making of postcards. Each card must portray something of the work that MCC is involved in all over the world. I hoped to get about 80 postcards and by last evening I had 73 with a few straglers being delivered to the office. Here are pictures of some of them.In the next few days I will check them all out to see if the return address is on etc. Then early next week I will bring them to the MCC office in Kitchener. From there they will be distributed to volunteers all over the world. They are asked to fill in their name and country on the back. There is even some room for a small note. Then the cards will have to be taken to the local post office, where a stamp has to be put on with a little extra glue. After hand-cancelling the cards, they can be put in the mail. And then we wait and wait .....
I hope to have most cards back by the end of the summer.
I have an idea about how to continue.I do want to make a two-sided quilt, so we can see both sides of the cards.Has anybody ever attempted this? Or has anybody any ideas? I have some ideas myself, but somebody else might have a better idea. If so,please let me know.
It would be nice to have the quilt done for some shows next spring. It would be sold in the spring of 2009.
A few days ago I got good news. I have been selected to teach at Quilt Canada in 2008 in New Foundland. I have never been there, but always wanted to, so....this is great.

Embellishments

Still winter here with lots of snow and very low temperatures. I just came in from my daily walk and the woodstove feels great. But it looks pretty with the sun shining.
Our son left Thursday morning for Calgary and by Sunday evening he had arrived. He only had snow for the first few hours and after that it was clear sailing. Now he has to get used to his new surroundings and his new job.
I did manage to put the binding on the crane quilt. I like to enter it in a few shows, so no pictures yet.

I have been working on the embellishings of my crazy quilt block. It is a slow process, but most of the time it's fun. I do know, that I will stop after this one block, do something else and than try another block later.I'm working in the living room right now. Living in an old farm house has it's problems in cold weather. Finally it got even too cold for me upstairs with all the strong winds, so all the little baggies and boxes with "stuff" were moved downstairs.No used to put on a heater,since I'm up and down all the time.
I just hope that Laurence does not sit on a pin or needle. This has happened in the past.Let's say, it's not appreciated.
Saturday I will be teaching for the Dufferin County Quilters Guild in Orangeville.
This will be day 2 of the "Victorian Bouquet"
It had to be cancelled in December, because I was sick.
Next week is our guild meeting and all the postcards for the MCC project are due.
I hope to get lots. Right now I have 25 and I hope to end up with at least 60 to 70

Go west, young man

It was not that long ago, that I complained ( just a little) about a green Christmas. Well, winter has come with snow squalls, very hard winds and very low temperatures. For a few days more roads were closed, that open. And right in the middle of this, our son decided to move to Alberta, over 3000 kilometers from here. He was planning to move in the midle of April, but he got a promising job and was asked to come as soon as posslible. So tomorrow is blast-of time. I'm glad that 2 0f his friends have decided to come with him for the ride. All 3 of them are used to the big trucks and big equipment, so I wonder how it will work with these 3 tall guys in a Jimmy, pulling a U-Haul trailer. It will be quite different for us. Shawn moved to the house on our farm next door about 10 years ago, far enough not to be in each others hair, but close enough be able to help each other. I don't know how many evenings the big truck would come in the lane, just when supper was put on the table. But he has been a big help for us over the years and we will miss having him close.
Not much I can say. I was only 23 when I emigrated by myself to Canada, never giving it much thought about what my parents though of it all. Though the first years were hard at times I have never regretted making this move. So I hope that it will all work out for Shawn in Alberta.
Back to some quilting. Another hour and the binding will be on the crane quilt. Since I'm planning to put it in some shows I will keep it under wraps for the time being.
These pictures are of the first block of my next crazy quilt. In the center you can see a picture of my father in late thirties. The patterned fabric is from a reproduction line of Dutch fabric used in the different costumes. The wider laces I found on my trip to Friesland. The narrow ones and the old sigarette silks are from my friend Janet in England.
The sewing is done, now all the embroidery yet.

I will be teaching crazy quilting this coming Saturday at

Greenwood Quiltery in Guelph.
275 Woolwich Street
Guelph.
tel 519-822-2790

Award-winning Quilts

The Critter Quilt

 
2003
(55”x 55”)
Hand-appliquéd by Renske Helmuth.
Hand-quilted by Minerva Clemmer.

The blocks in the center of this quilt were inspired by the botanical appliqués of Ellen Heck. Birds and borders were designed by Renske Helmuth.

Cover Quilt: The Canadian Quilter Newsletter (Fall 2004)

Awards:

• 2004 Quilt Canada National Juried Show -- Best Traditional Wall Hanging; President's Award for Excellence in Appliqué; and Viewer's Choice Award
• 2004 World Quilt Show Grand Rapids, Michigan -honorable mention – Traditional
• 2003 Ontario Juried show -Viewer's Choice Award

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Springtime in Ontario

 
2001
(50” x 42”)
Renske Helmuth
Hand-quilted by Minerva Clemmer

Awards:

• 2003 World Quilt Competition (Lansing Michigan) -1st place of Country Canada
• 2002 Quilt Canada National Juried Show (Edmonton, Alberta) -winner in the Traditional Large category
• 2001 Ontario Juried Show (Kitchener, Ontario) -first prize and viewer's choice
• 2001 Waterloo County Quilters' Guild quilt show -Viewer's Choice
• 2000 International Quilt Festival (Houston, Texas) -honorable mention in the 2-person category

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A Garden Bouquet of Flowers

 
1998
(72” x 72")
Renske Helmuth

Awards:

• 1999 International Quilt Festival (Houston, Texas) -3rd place large traditional appliqué category
• 2001 Ontario Juried Show (Kitchener, Ontario) -honorable mention in the large category

More fabric

Yesterday we packed up the cat and the dog and deliverd them back home to our daughter and son-in-law. The cat had made herself at home right away, with the dog it took longer. But now I miss them. It is mighty quiet. But both were glad to be back home again, the owners as well as their pets.
This picture shows some of the old laces I picked up in Friesland. The 3 pieces at the top are very finely crocheted and are at the bottom part of a small cap. Most of the other pieces belong to the bigger cap that goes over the gold part ( for those interested google "oorijzer" or "floddermuts") both Dutch words. This bottom part is a 1 meter long strip, that is washed, starched heavily and than put into a cripper to make "wavy" Once set, it is sewn back to a top part.
Some of these pieces had been stashed away for a long time and were almost brown.
I noticed that my sister-in-law in Friesland put some of these laces in simmering water on the stove. I wanted to be sure, that any left-over starch would be gone, so I did the same thing and it worked very well. I did not want it to get very white, but a creamy color and it worked just dandy. Now I'm working on my first crazy quilt block. More on that next week.
Jeanette had found a quilt store in Hawai and found out that Hawaian quilting is very interesting. She bought books and lots of fabric. I was told, that the books are for me to look at, since she wants to make her own quilt, but she gave me lots of beautiful fabric to keep.
Another project. At times I have a feeling, that I have enough projects to keep me buzy for the rest of my life.

At work again

It feels good to be finally back at work again. I did not do anything fabric related for over 1 month. Now, with workshops coming up I have to settle down and get organized. We still have company as you can see. This means lots of walks in the cold. We are finally getting used to each other. One more week and she will have to return to her owners.
On Saturday I have another "Postcard" workshop for my guild. The first one was in December. I missed that one, because I had the flue. I hope to do better with this one. Since the samples for the last one were all Christmas related I had to come up with something new. These 5 cards are my new patterns.
I will teach in the morning and in the afternoon we will talk about the cards we will make for the next Mennonite Relief Sale quilt. The first step for that one is making cards showing something to do with the work of MCC.

On FEBRUARY 3nd And MARCH 10th I will teach a 2-day workshop for the Waterloo County Quilters Guild. The workshop will be at the Community Center in Mannheim, Ontario that is.I will teach this pot with orchids, surrounded by a sashiko border. There are still a few spots open. So..... if you would be interested in joining us, you contact me at helmuth@golden.net

Home again

On Monday I arrived home again after a very good few weeks. I spend a lot of time with my mother and celebrated her 90th birthday with family and relatives on my last day there. It was fun to meet some cousins I had not seen for a long time. I did not come home with a lot of pictures I dropped my camera with as a result that most did not turn out.
But I do have these of a bridge in the north of Friesland with skaters.

Every so often, when there is lots of ice there is the "elf steden tocht" , the race/tour along the 11 historical cities of the province. The total length is about 200 kilometer. The first race was in 1909 and the last one 10 years ago. This bridge is a salute to all the participants over the last century. The picture of skaters is made up of small blue tiles with pictures of skaters over the years.
I found one square of a woman, who had done the tour in 1909.Her picture showed her when she was older in her Frisian costume.
My father skated the race 3 times in 1941,1942 and 1943, still on the old type wooden skates with iron runners, and we are in the process of getting a tile for my father in his memory. And yes, I did visit the Rijksmuseum with my cousin, saw all the flowerstalls along the water (and wished I could have taken all those lovely flowers home with me)
And the horses. Black horse everywhere. When I was still at home, over 35 years ago, not many people were riding on Frisian horses. When I went with my brother to a dressage show, about halve were black. And the quality.....amazing.
And I did something fabric related. In my quest to get things for my next crazy quilt project, I asked around for old laces. And I was very successfull, later more on this subject.
Once home again, it was back to the familiar.I promtly got the flue again and spend a few days in bed.Then I very graciously gave it to my husband, who is feeling downright sick today
And we did get some visitors. Our daughter and son-in-law have gone to the sunny south and we are looking after their cat, who spends most of her time up on the showerstall and their dog, Berni, who had a lonely few days, but is getting used to us.
AS you can see, never a dull moment on the farm

A New Year

Here we have a new year and lots of things going on. Tomorrow this time I will be on my way to Holland. We will celebrate my mother's 90th birthday. And I cannot miss that. Besides spending a lot of time with my mother I have a few other things on the calendar. One of my cousins and I will visit the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and my brother will take me to the Friesian Museum. Everything is diferent, when you do not have a car. I used to go with the train for 5 years to college. Since living in Canada I have never been on a train, except when I'm over for a visit, so I do not mind taking the train.
And I'm lucky enough to be able to go to the Friesian Horse Show on January 12th. That will bring back a lot of good memories.
But I had to be sure to finish a few projects. This is the 81/2 inch block for my Crazy Quilt Block workshop. I put it in a shadow box, what looks great, but did not photograph well.
A few months ago I finished the applique on my crane quilt. Most of the quilting has been done by my friend Florence. Part of the quilting is done in sashiko style. Once I'm back some more quilting lines have to be added. This crane is about 7 inches tall and consists of about 75 pieces. The white pieces are all out of one mottled fabric.
Since I will not have a computer for the next 2 weeks, this will not be updated till I will be back.

Crazy quilt blocks

We had a few wonderful days over the holidays with family and friends.It was busy with lots of talking and laughing. And ....of course eating. And we did have a green Christmas. We even saw a few stragly pansies sticking up in the garden. Now all is quiet again and it is time to go back to work. Joan, owner of Greenwood Quiltery, the quilt store in Guelph, asked me to teach a workshop in Crazy Quilt embroidery. So out came this small wallhanging I made a few years ago. The center is 12 inches and I used embroidery, silk ribbon embroidery,charms and beads. This was a bigger size than we wanted, so right now I'm working on a smaller, 81/2 inch block I hope to have ready in a few days. I realized that over the last few years I had gathered a good collection of ribbons, beads, charms and laces. This came in very handy.
My goal is to make a horse themed crazy quilt. Last fall I received from my mother all the old ribbons our family won with our Frisian horses.
And I feel like I finally can manage to put some old pictures on fabric, using our printer. The only thing I would like are a few sigarette silks with horses( preferable black) If anybody would know, where there are some available, please let me know.
I figure on making 12 12inch blocks with a border. This would be a long time project with a block at a time approach. I'm sure other things will crop up from time to time.

It's starting to look like Christmas

Not outside!!! It looks like we might have a green Christmas for the first time in over 20 years. The weather is great, cool and sunny, but it is just not what we are used to here in the snowbelt area of Ontario, Canada. But we have a few days yet, still time to change.
So we have to get that Christmas feeling inside. I like to get a real tree and this year it ended up being taller than I expected, only 3 inches from the ceiling. Another tradition I have is making arrangements. I go around our farms and cut cedar, pine, boxwood, redwood, and some other scrubs.I did buy a few things like eucalyptus This year I cut less of everything and made 8 arrangements in different sizes in the kitchen. Other years a friend will come over and we have to take over the (heated ) workshop.
Some of these arrangements are meant for the neighbours.
They know that if the container is returned during the year, it will be filled up for the next year.
Tonight I have to get groceries and I will buy some carnations to stick here and there.
About 10 days ago I send 10 fabric postcards, the ones with the snowmen, to Holland, England, California and locally. I had them hand-cancelled at the local postoffice and I have heard from most recipients.And .....all came over in good shape.
The coming days will be busy with getting ready for family to come home.
I do find that with only the two of us at home, that I can get away with less baking. But then this week-end we will have family and friends over for dinner for three days in a row, different ones every day,so a trip to town is necessary. Maybe more then one trip.
Wishing everybody a very Merry Christmas.

Straw figures

B.Q, or better before quilting I worked a lot with wheat straw. This is a very ancient craft. I found my first book in England, where it is called "corn dolly making". It is confusing, because what we call grain in Canada is called corn in England, while what we call corn is called maize over there. Anyway, one of our crops is wheat and since we have a test plot anyway, it was easy for me to get a variety of wheat, dark, light, bearded ( bearded wheat has long hairs) or not. I would cut it by hand, dry it and "clean" the wheat. This means that only the stem with the head would be left. This would be stored till needed. Till about 10 years ago I made hundreds of items. Problems with hands and shoulders made it harder. Before you can work with the straw it has to be soaked,after which it is pliable enough to handle. It also means, that you have to finish the project before the straw dries out.
So it got too much to do the bigger projects. Applique was much easier. Whenever I had trouble, I could stop and proceed later. I have not stopped completely though. Every year I pick a few handfull of wheat. And when I need a small present it is fun to whip something up. My fingers still seem to know how to make the braids.
One year I decided to start the work on a Nativity scene. That year I made these 5 figures. The plan was to make a few every year. That did not happen and these are the only ones I have.
They are about 12 inches tall and usually they come out of the box for Christmas.
When the tree is not too big, one of the angels stars on top of the tree. Not this year. I managed to buy a tree that hit the ceiling!

More of the same

One more workshop and it would be all over for the year.
But.....more of the same. On Friday I finished making all the samples to show the different stages of making a fabric postcard. In the afternoon I got everything together. Even my voice was not too bad.
But it was not to be. That night the stomach flue hit me me. Needless to say I did not make it to the workshop.
Since the room and lunch had been ordered the group decided to go though with it. Laurence made a mad dash to Kitchener after the chores with all the supplies and I went back to bed for the next 3 days.
This workshop was for my own guild.I'm organizing another quilt for the Mennonite Relief Sale and this one involves the making and sending of fabric postcards. At the last meeting I met members, who had never made one, so an informal list was made for people interested in a workshop. When that list was over 20 we decided we better do something about it, so a workshop was organized. In total over 40 members signed up. A second one has been added for late January.For that one I will make some other samples.
Since all my stuff was shipped to the workshop on Saturday I could not work on anything here at home once I felt a little bit better. Yesterday I retrieved my things and even got some Christmas shopping done.
These snowmen are meant for sending to family and friends overseas, so it is more than time to finish them and hit the post office.

New project

This past week has not been very productive. By the time Wednesday was over I was sick with laryngitis (oh, was the house ever quiet). That was followed by a dry, hacking cough and later my eyes were infected. So for the first time I had to cancel a trunkshow and a workshop because of illness. I hope that will not happen too often. About 2 weeks ago I was asked to come up with a small project for teaching at a local store. The owner really liked my "Springtime in Ontario" quilt, so I took a look at the Jack-in-the-pulpit block and came up with this design. It should fit, because the workshop is not till next the spring. Still have one workshop to do on Saturday. My voice is not in good shape yet, but we have a few more days.

Frost

Finally.....the harvest is over. Hubby got up at 3.30 this morning to combine the last corn and he finished before sunrise. Conditions were just right with the ground frozen. So that is it for another year. I took these pictures soon after the sun was up and there was still frost on the ground. All is gone now and it turned into a beautiful day. Not much in the quilt department to report. Worrying about a sick mother in Holland and a sick mother-in-law here took most of my engergies.A workshop last Saturday in Newmarket, a trunkshow tomorrow in Brampton and another workshop on Saturday in Orangeville just about does it for this year.I'm trying to machine quilt a small landscape, but I feel like I'm getting worse instead of better. Might have something to do with not feeling the best with a sore throat and a cold. These are my final few roses, clinging to life. This bush flowers from springtime till late fall. The small roses are not very showy, but they are very pretty.

More postcards

Yesterday was the November meeting of the Waterloo County Quilters Guild. There had been a lot of interest shown in making postcards for a quilt for the Mennonite Relief Sale . For those members, who have never made a card, I decided to have a workshop on December 2nd. It did not take long to fill that one with 24 members and now there are enough signed up for another workshop in January. This one will not be till after I come back from Holland in the middle of January. The due date has been changed from January to FEbruary. I also handed out 100 information sheets.These 2 cards are samples I made.One shows the MCC logo over stamps, the other is the logo for the Ten thousend Villages.More information you can find at www.mcc.org The goal is to make a 4 inch by 6 inch fabric postcard showing some aspect of the work by the Mennonite Central Committee. I will collect these cards ( we hope to get around 100) and give them to the local office. From there the cards will be distributed to the volunteers all over the world. They are asked to take the card(s) to the local post office , put stamps on and have the card hand cancelled and pop the card in the mail. I do not think that all the cards will make it back, but I hope for the best. These cards will be the beginning of another group quilt. It usually takes 3 years from the beginning till the quilt is sold.

Postcards

Last month I introduced at our monthly guild meeting a new idea for another quilt for the Mennonite Relief Sale. The first step is making postcards.Since a lot of the members have never made a fabric postcard I will be teaching a workshop on December 2nd. I made a few samples of Christmas cards to use during the day. This is all what I have been able to accomplish this week. The harvest is almost done,but my husband twisted his ankle coming down the steps of the combine, so that changed things. Xrays showed that it is not broken, but he won't be able to walk much for a few weeks.So I will have to do the chores for him. So far so good. I'm fine as long as the machinery does not break down. I'm absolutely not technical, give me a horse over a tractor anytime. When time allows I will make a few more cards.It is fun to make small projects.

Smile Quilts

Every year, in the fall, the Waterloo County Quilters Guild has a bee day where we make quilts for children with serious illnesses. The quilts are called "smile quilts" and are delivered to the hospital in Kitchener. In the last 5 years our guild has provided over 450 quilts. Once at the hospital,they are distributed by the nursing staff.We were provided with a pattern beforehand, but it is up to us to decide want to make. Over the years I have bought a collection of animal prints and each year I make at least one quilt. This year's sample you can see here. I have to buy some flanel for the back before I can machine quilt it. As you can see there was a good turn-out and a lot of work was accomplished. Yesterday I had to teach in Mount Forest, only 30 minutes from here and Saturday it is back to Orangeville. This all keeps me hopping. At home we are still combining. It is muddy, so far so good.I have not had the dreaded call "we are stuck". It is a relieve, when finally all the crops are in and we can settle in for the winter. There are lots of projects waiting for the time when there will be less interuptions.

I still don't get it !

On Saturday I gave a talk at the fall meeting for the Mennonite Women of Ontario at First Mennonite in Kitchener. They had some very good frames for hanging my quilts up. This was the first time I have seen 4 of my appliqued quilts hanging beside each other. And guess what..... MY CAMERA WAS AT HOME, so no pictures.Today I send another small wallhanging to my mother in Holland. She has now one for each season. And after I had send it in the mail I realized that I had forgotten to take a picture. When will I learn, that my canera should always be handy.So today a "boring" picture of my latest project to finish. It is a large bedquilt that I pieced. The machine quilting has been done by Creative Sisters in Kitchener and now all that is left for me to do is the binding. I'm not used to such a large quilt, so it will take me a while. But I have the time. The weather is still not cooperating, but we are combining corn. There is lots of mud and the combine has been stuck once.Right now they are flying right along. This means, that I have to stick around in case something comes up, like moving wagons, giving rides to the next field or going for parts. And of course there has to be food at mealtimes either in the house or taken to the field. I hope by next week I can say, we are finished for another year, but I have my doubts. .

I still don't get it !

On Saturday I gave a talk at the fall meeting for the Mennonite Women of Ontario at First Mennonite in Kitchener. They had some very good frames for hanging my quilts up. This was the first time I have seen 4 of my appliqued quilts hanging beside each other. And guess what..... MY CAMERA WAS AT HOME, so no pictures.Today I send another small wallhanging to my mother in Holland. She has now one for each season. And after I had send it in the mail I realized that I had forgotten to take a picture. When will I learn, that my canera should always be handy.So today a "boring" picture of my latest project to finish. It is a large bedquilt that I pieced. The machine quilting has been done by Creative Sisters in Kitchener and now all that is left for me to do is the binding. I'm not used to such a large quilt, so it will take me a while. But I have the time. The weather is still not cooperating, but we are combining corn. There is lots of mud and the combine has been stuck once.Right now they are flying right along. This means, that I have to stick around in case something comes up, like moving wagons, giving rides to the next field or going for parts. And of course there has to be food at mealtimes either in the house or taken to the field. I hope by next week I can say, we are finished for another year, but I have my doubts. .

Orchid

In 2 years Quilt Canada will be in New Foundland. Since I have never been that far east I would love to go. When I received a letter from the people on the workshop committee I got busy and made a list of my workshops. I only had one 2 day workshop, so I came up with another one.This quilt is about 25 by 27 inches and consist of hand applique and hand sashiko.I took a picture of one of my orchids and drew up a pattern. The pot is cut out of a piece of Japanese fabric I had. The twigs, leaves and flowers are hand appliqued. The "moss" is hand embroidered with the turkey stitch on an extra piece of fabic and sewn down later. The oval consists of 3 rounds of sashiko. The border was done last.The border pattern fits into a 3 inch square and I was very lucky that it all worked out in the end. I should know by now that it is much better to design a pattern before you start the work, than to do it as you go. I have run into these kinds of problems before, but have not learned my lesson yet. With all the other things going on, it took a while to finish it. If we could just get some nice weather now. After rain, sleet and snow we are in need of sunshine. There is still a lot of harvesting to do. It is of to my guild meeting now. I have an idea for another quilt for the Mennonite Relief Sale and I have to find out if there is any enthousiasm for my idea.

Harvest time

What a beautiful week it has been. After a lot of rain we finally have been able to combine the soybeans and started to plant winter wheat. Not that I'm doing much of the field work, but I'm busy keeping things going at home and I have to be ready to help out where ever necessary.This all makes it hard to get any quilt related work done. I do teach some workshops and this picture was taken in Mount Forest, a very easy 20 minute drive from here.The lazy one with nothing to show is moi! I taught the "Small Landscape" workshop there a week and a half ago and had a great group. And I will be back again on the first of November with the same workshop for another group. Things should settle down soon. My mother-in-law moved last week to a retirement place in Listowel. Everybody pitched in with cleaning the house and getting ready for the auction yesterday. The weather was perfect ,so everything could be put outside on the lawn. When it started at 11 it seemd that there were lots of people willing to spend their money. This was very good for grandma, but I think it was hard on her to see so many menories go. I was fortunate to be able to buy all the things I had my eye on, though at times for considerable more then I had figured on. By 3.30 it was all over and by 6 everything was cleared out and we could lock the house up. Not the end of the day though. Since it was so nice, it was back to combining and emptying wagons, so the day was not over till after 10. Next week I should have my new workshop done. All it needs is some sashiko around the outside. And then it is time to start on the wall hanging of my home farm in Friesland. I have decided to do it all with hand applique, even if it will take me al very long time. In the end I will be happier.

Back.....again

There have been a few problems with my web site, so it was gone for a few days. But all seems to be back to normal. At the beginning of September I gave a workshop in Orangeville for the Dufferin Piecemakers Quilters Guild.We had a big group of 20, each making their own small landscape. Last Saturday I was back for a second workshop and four ladies showed me their finished landscape. Here you can see Janet, Beckie, Marilyn and Doreen with their projects. Great work! I also took pictures of the individual pieces, but they were too blurry. I better start using a tripod for something that small or get a steadier hand. We have been busy around here.My mother-in-law will move next week to a retirement place in town and her house has been sold,so now we have to get ready for the auction on October 9th. And then there is the harvest. The weather has not co-operated the last few weeks. The soybeans are ready, but we need some warm, sunny days. My plans for the farm quilt have been side tracked. I need to come up with another 2 days workshop. I'm working on that first, but do not have enough ready to show you. I should have more by next week.

Hania State

I grew up on a farm in the north of the Netherlands, in the prvince of Friesland. We lived on an old farm with a kitchen full of old blue tiles. It was a great place for a kid to grow up. The name of Hania State is very old. State means from old a fortified farm and it must have belonged at some point to the Hania family. Around part of the yard was a wide ditch( not on the side you can see on this picture),beside that was a narrow strip of land with another ditch on the other side. On both sides of the 10 meter wide strip were magestic old trees. We were told, that is was a remainder of an old moat. No matter what, it was a great place to play.Over the years I always wanted to make a quilt with the old farm on it, but I never found the time. I also did not have any good pictures, since growing up vere few pictures were taken. But my mother to the rescue. On one of my visits she gave me this advertizing. Where it came from and who took the picture is not known. It is an advertisement for cleanig products and is over 50 years old. But still no colors. Years ago I received this painted milk can as a gift. I took it home full of knitting yarn. I can still feel my back!!!On the front is a painting of the farm. The rest is done in the style of Hindelopen,the town where where my mother grew up. And here is the beginning of my attempt. I drew the farm and had it enlarged. I have copied it onto freezer paper and colored it just a bit. Now I have to decide. Do it all by hand, even the small windows, which will take forever or use some fusing. I know what I like to do, but with everything going on I do not feel I have the time. My mother's 90th birthday is in January and I would like to have something for her to see.